Habemos John! Astronauts Can Boldly Go Again, As ISS Toilet is Fixed

Spaceboys who have been crossing their legs in sympathy with the can-less astronauts on the Space Station can relax. Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko fixed the toilet after the Discovery space shuttle delivered a new pump to the ISS on Monday. The outer-space loo had been broken for two weeks, and the three-man team had been taking it in turns to swill it out manually with water. “Let’s start using it,” said Russian mission control to Kononenko, adding hopefully, “we’ll keep our fingers crossed.” In other space news, a billion-dollar Japanese science lab was opened on the ISS. Called Kibo, or hope, the 11 metre long lab is one of the largest rooms on the ISS, but will not be up and running until its porch arrives next year. [CNN]